VAMHN'S ECR BURSARY WINNER sylvia behrendt DISCUSSES HER ATTENDANCE AT THE working creativley with trauma workshop

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Sylvia Behrendt did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

On the 9th and 10th of October, I was able to attend the introductory workshop on “Working creatively with Trauma” by Jill Carter. The workshop was held online and attended by a group of therapists and counsellors interested in expanding their creative skillset when working with clients. The course was conducted over 2 days and offered ample insight into the benefits of working with trauma creatively. An important part of the course was the exploration of what trauma can mean, how trauma can manifest in the nervous system and how working creatively can benefit the process of recovery. As an experiential workshop, all participants had the chance to work creatively themselves and explore the different impacts of sandplay, music, art and other expressive arts tools. The workshop was aimed to leave participants with an expanded repertoire of tools to engage with in client work and in their research both in online work and face-to-face. It particularly highlighted the gap that creative work can address when trauma, developmental factors and other aspects can impede the ability to name and describe. As the GBV lead of my team, I am looking forward to the chance to share the experience with my team and beyond and to help inform the landscape of wellbeing and counselling support offered to our students via active provision and ongoing research.